Sugar around the world →
Copyright © 2006 - 2009 Ethical Sugar
Site created with SPIP by
A. LE FLOCH
TACLOBAN CITY—Close to 500 soldiers from Eastern Visayas region departed Friday for Negros Occidental province to augment military forces facing an upsurge of rebel attacks on sugar plantations and other private companies in the province.
The soldiers belong to the 62nd Infantry Battalion and under the command of Lt. Col. Alberto Desoyo.
“This is part of our mission: To help clear Negros (Occidental) of its insurgency problem,” Desoyo told reporters shortly before their departure.
The send-off ceremony held at 3 p.m. Friday at the Tacloban wharf was attended by the relatives and wives of the soldiers.
Maj. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan, Samar, reminded the soldiers not to forget their task and to “be proud that you are from the 8th ID.”
Finish job in six months
Tabaquero was referring to the performance of the soldiers in neutralizing the insurgency in Samar and parts of Eastern Samar provinces. The main base of the 62nd Infantry Battalion is in Quinapondan, Eastern Samar.
The soldiers departed on board the BRP Benguet, a Philippine Navy ship marked LP 507. They were expected to arrive on Monday in Negros Occidental.
Desoyo could not say where the soldiers would base except to say that they would dock at La Carlota City.
“We will stay there as long as the problem exists. We really don’t know when we will return here in the region,” Desoyo said.
But Tabaquero projected that the soldiers might finish their “job” in six months.
In 1995, soldiers belonging to the 62nd IB were also deployed in Mindanao. They returned to the region in 2003.
Tabaquero said the deployment of troops to Negros Island was an indication that the insurgency problem in Eastern Visayas no longer poses a serious threat to the region’s peace and order.
This was the second time in less than a year that soldiers based in Eastern Visayas were deployed elsewhere.
Campaign vs rebs and MILF
In August last year, members of the 43rd IB and 46 IB were deployed in Northern Mindanao to help in the campaign against rebels and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. They have yet to return to the region.
With this latest troop deployment, soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion and Scout Rangers of the 8th ID would be assigned to oversee areas under the 62nd IB. “We will also augment our forces there with the help of our Civilians Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) members,” Tabaquero said.